Milford selectmen underwhelmed by Foxwoods plan

Susan Spencer TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Published Monday April 8, 2013 at 9:00 pm

Updated Monday April 8, 2013 at 11:47 pm

PHOTO/ T&G Staff/BETTY JENEWIN

An air of disappointment over the lack of details hung over the Board of Selectmen tonight after Scott Butera, president and CEO of Foxwoods, made his pitch for a $1 billion resort casino proposed for land off of Interstate 495 and Route 16.

The approximately 250 casino opponents in Upper Town Hall, coordinated by a local group, Casino-Free Milford, and wearing red to show their concern, frequently applauded the selectmen’s questions and rebukes to developers.

Mr. Butera also heads FCX LLC, the corporate entity doing business as Foxwoods Massachusetts, the sole member of which is an investor group known as Crossroads Massachusetts. In their questions to him, selectmen expressed dismay that the issues raised in discussions four years ago with Crossroads investor David H. Nunes had not been dealt with.

Selectman Brian W. Murray, board chairman, told Mr. Butera: “This town has been dealing with this particular proposal since 2009. … I think the time is past for glossy pictures. We need to see some specifics. We need to know exactly how you’re going to be dealing with the impacts that have been identified ... for some time.”

Mr. Murray referred to a town memo from 2009, after a meeting with Mr. Nunes, outlining concerns by local officials over environmental constraints and the presence of endangered species; traffic, trash, crime and water availability; the need for an architectural survey of American Indian artifacts on site, and the site of the proposed casino being where National Grid currently has a transmission line.

Selectmen told the casino developers tonight that in order to schedule a town referendum on a proposal in October, everything required in the state gaming law and issues identified by town departments for mitigation would have to be completed by August.

“The question is whether they’re going to be able to do what needs to be done in a very short time period,” Mr. Murray said afterward.

Mr. Murray told Mr. Butera that if developers didn’t present sufficiently detailed information in six weeks, the board might choose not to move forward and might not enter into a host agreement.

Mr. Butera presented an overview of Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, highlighting its executive team and more than 8,200 employees with jobs at a range of levels. He discussed the more than $800,000 paid annually in sales tax, property tax, excise tax and licensing fees to the state. He said the tax revenue would be significantly higher in Massachusetts because the casino, being on American Indian land, doesn’t pay property taxes.

“We want to develop Foxwoods Massachusetts as a New England resort,” Mr. Butera said, saying it wouldn’t look like a “Las Vegas-style” casino.

Mr. Butera said that Foxwoods only became involved in the project recently and he apologized that Crossroads’ representatives had not responded to the town’s earlier concerns. However, he said, the information would have to be supplied responsibly.

He said Foxwoods would open a storefront office on Main Street next week to receive input from residents, who can also interact with the project’s website.

Selectman Bill Buckley discussed “the elephant in the room,” a letter sent Thursday from Mr. Nunes of Ajax Gaming Ventures, a shareholder in Crossroads, to Town Administrator Richard Villani, telling Mr. Villani he had received a “cease and desist” letter on March 18 from other Crossroads members stripping him of authority to act on behalf of Crossroads Massachusetts.

“I have shed any faith in that project given that the investors and Foxwoods have not invested the time to get to know the people of Milford,” Mr. Nunes wrote.

Mr. Buckley, who said he was opposed to a casino in Milford, said, “I don’t know what to say about this. It’s mind-boggling. … It’s a heck of a way to introduce this project.”

Besides the Casino-Free Milford supporters, two rows of people wearing yellow United Auto Workers T-shirts sat front and center in the auditorium.

Mary Johnson, president of Local 2121, which represents the dealers and other employees at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut, said, “We were initially shocked about Foxwoods coming in on the project.”

She said the union’s contract expired in December 2011 and the union has been in arbitration with Foxwoods.

Ms. Johnson said union members were there “to let Mr. Butera know we’re here and not very happy about what’s going on at Foxwoods.”

Dozens of casino opponents held signs outside Town Hall before the meeting.

John Tehan, who was holding a sign opposing the casino and is a member of the Milford Democratic Town Committee, said people across the political spectrum opposed the casino. “It’s refreshing to be on the same side of an issue with somebody from the Republican Town Committee,” he said.

Contact Susan Spencer at susan.spencer@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanSpencerTG